In two statements released to jihadist forums today, the Sinai-based jihadist group Ansar Jerusalem (Ansar Bayt al Maqdis) claimed responsibility for an overnight gas pipeline attack in the Sinai as well as the assassination of an aide to Egypt’s Interior Minister in Cairo.

General Mohamed Saeed, who worked in the country’s Interior Ministry, was killed outside his home early today by gunmen on a motorcycle, Reuters reported. In its statement claiming the assassination, Ansar Jerusalem called Saeed an “apostate criminal.” The attack was reminiscent of the group’s November killing of Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Mabrouk, a senior national security officer, in Cairo.

In its latest communique, the group further warned that a similar fate may be forthcoming for army chief Abdel Fattah el Sisi and Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, as well as their aides. In September, Ansar Jerusalem carried out a suicide car bombing in the Cairo area that was an attempt to assassinate Ibrahim. In an October video about the attempted assassination, the jihadist group warned the “leaders of the war against Islam,” specifically Abdel Fattah el Sisi, Sedki Sobhi, and Mohammed Ibrahim: “We brought you slaughter, so feel your necks.”

Despite Ansar Jerusalem’s claim for the assassination of Mohammed Saeed, Egypt’s army spokesman alleged today that elements of the Muslim Brotherhood were responsible. Ansar Jerusalem did not comment on a separate attack today near a church in the Cairo area that killed one policeman and injured two others.

Since July 3, there have been more than 280 reported attacks in the Sinai Peninsula, most of which were carried out against Egyptian security forces and assets, according to data maintained by The Long War Journal. A good number of these attacks, including the Nov. 20 car bombing that killed 11 Egyptian security personnel, have been claimed by Ansar Jerusalem. This past weekend, Ansar Jerusalem released video of its fighters using a surface-to-air missile to take down an Egyptian helicopter operating in North Sinai. Five Egyptian soldiers were killed in the attack, which has yet to be officially acknowledged by the army, despite the video.

Since February 2011, a Sinai gas pipeline that supplied Israel and Jordan with gas has been attacked more than a dozen times. In February 2012, al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri lauded “the heroes who blew up the gas pipeline to Israel,” in a message released to jihadist forums.

Approximately five months later, Ansar Jerusalem released a video in which it took responsibility for 13 of the attacks. In the video, Ansar Jerusalem showed its fighters preparing and planting explosive devices along the gas pipeline, while audio from Zawahiri’s February speech played.

The al Furqan Brigades, which are not believed to be based in the Sinai, have also claimed responsibility for a number of shootings and rocket attacks in the Egyptian mainland since Morsi’s overthrow. In contrast to Ansar Jerusalem, the group has yet to claim responsibility for any large car or suicide bombings.